Risks and rewards of illegal parking lots at Hampton Beach

Shortage of spaces: Officials place new focus on longstanding issue

HAMPTON — In recent weeks there has been a renewed call for some sort of action to increase the number of parking spaces at Hampton Beach, and as talks have continued about the annual issue some residents have asked the town to start cracking down on illegal parking lots.

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By Kyle Stucker

seacoastonline.com

By Kyle Stucker

Posted Jul. 20, 2014 at 2:00 AM
Updated Jul 21, 2014 at 8:27 AM

By Kyle Stucker

Posted Jul. 20, 2014 at 2:00 AM
Updated Jul 21, 2014 at 8:27 AM

» Social News

HAMPTON — In recent weeks there has been a renewed call for some sort of action to increase the number of parking spaces at Hampton Beach, and as talks have continued about the annual issue some residents have asked the town to start cracking down on illegal parking lots.

Fellows Avenue resident Walter Kivlan said he believes some residential properties may be selling portions of their lawns and driveways while simultaneously collecting the special tax abatement the Hampton Beach Village District awards to its non-commercial and non-rental units.

Kivlan wants district commissioners and town officials to require any property seeking this abatement to undergo a Planning Board site plan review. He said this would ensure Hampton isn't shrinking its coffers by giving a tax break to properties that are already hiding additional taxable revenue.

"I just don't think it's right," said Kivlan. "We should take a stance that if you're receiving an abatement because you live in your home and don't rent your home, it doesn't give you a right (to sell parking spaces)."

Town ordinances require anyone running a parking lot on their property to receive approval from the town.

The parking issue is complex, though, because new Hampton Beach restaurants and shops aren't required to have parking, according to Town Manager Fred Welch. While new hotels must have parking, Welch said pre-existing beach residential units and developments are "grandfathered" from any new ordinances that alter minimum parking space requirements for these types of structures.

This means a high number of structures at Hampton Beach aren't governed by minimum parking space requirements that are proportional to their various occupancy capacities. Beach business owner and Hampton Zoning Board member Tom McGuirk said this, over time, has been one of the main contributing factors to the parking shortage along the beach.

The McGuirk family owns a restaurant, hotel and a number of other properties around the area, but in total the town only requires them to have 42 parking spaces. Despite this, McGuirk's family owns roughly 120 spaces, but he said even that isn't enough to satisfy the demand on busy tourism days.

These low minimum requirements force some individuals to push their parking onto the street, according to McGuirk, and this is why he and other beach officials and business owners say they don't want to be the ones to shut down so-called illegal parking lots.

"I don't think it's a big issue," said Chuck Rage, one of the Hampton Beach Village District commissioners. "They're helping out the beach by letting people park. I think it's good for everybody. The people doing it on the side are getting the overflow. It's either help those people park, or they leave the beach. We definitely have a shortage of parking throughout different times of the year."

Rage and McGuirk said they agree with Kivlan, though, that individuals shouldn't be allowed to receive the abatement and make revenue from parking.

"It's as simple as that," said McGuirk. "It's black and white."

Some feel the illegal parking issue may not be that widespread because of the risks involved.

A couple of years ago, Steve LaBranche, the district's treasurer and a member of the Hampton Budget Committee, said he briefly ran an illegal parking lot, selling a couple of spaces behind his house at $20 a pop.

He said he flirted with the idea because "it seemed like easy money," though he quickly stopped once he realized that the plan could eventually be far more trouble than it was worth.

"I called my insurance company to see what would happen if somebody got hurt (in the lot)," said LaBranche. "The (insurance agent) said, 'You aren't doing that, are you?' He said, 'I want to tell you, if somebody gets hurt, you will lose your house. You have residential insurance. You can't do that.'"

Commercial insurance is required to insure properties against this type of claim, and LaBranche said it isn't wise to run an illegal lot because it isn't possible to get a rider on residential insurance to prevent an insurance company from seeking large personal assets to recoup the costs of any uncovered liability.

A parking garage is viewed by some residents as a favorable solution to Hampton Beach's parking headaches, and Sal Lupoli, the new owner of the Hampton Beach Casino complex, has hinted that he'd like to erect a garage or multi-tiered lot of some kind behind the Casino Ballroom or nearby.

While beach officials said they are supportive of that idea, McGuirk and others believe more could be done to fully address some of the underlying causes of the problem.

One possibility would be the town's certificate of occupancy process, which units must undergo once every 10 years. Residential and rental property owners must undergo a site plan review, which includes parking, if they seek an addition, although properties can get a CO renewal even if they have inadequate parking.

Scott McDonald, the town's rental housing inspector, said this is because a CO inspection focuses on "life-safety issues" and not parking.

"When we do CO rental renewals, we are looking at the life-safety issues (within) those units and the structures themselves," said McDonald. "The parking is determined when a property is going through the planning process and approval process."

McGuirk said the caveat to including parking in the CO process would be that it would add more regulatory and administrative expense to a town that has been without a planner for several months and a full-time fire inspector for years.

McGuirk said additional expense is "the last thing anybody needs," which is why he hopes an even more proactive planning approach can be taken from here on out so beach redevelopment can be used to help solve the parking problem.

"This town is a reactive town," said McGuirk. "That's kind of the issue."